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The Almond: The Sexual Awakening of a Muslim Woman

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The nature of sexual longing is at the heart of this languid, sexually explicit, but gorgeously evocative novel from forty-year-old North African author Nedjma. Readers will probably be shocked - not so much at the candid descriptions of love making - but at the fact that they eminate from the Muslem world, long thought to be the pinnacle of all things puritanical.

In this novel, which celebrates all things feminine, Nedja introduces us to Badra, a young muslim woman who, while recounting the horrors of her arranged marriage in rural Imchouk, also tells us of her steamy love affair with Driss, a wealthy, European educated, and well-to-do surgeon who lives in the cosmopolitan heart of Tangier.

Escaping to Tangier when she is still a girl, Badra stays in the home of the kindly, world wise Aunt Selma who tells her to open her heart, a heart that has been chained down with hatred and anger from her marriage to her uncaring husband Hmed. Bradra soon realizes that she never loved Hmed; all he managed to do was deprive her of her laughter.

Her mother is totally unsympathetic, telling her to stay with her house and husband and "accept your fate like the rest of us." But Badra secretly dreams of having the most beautiful organ and "having it impose its laws on the men and stars, pitiless and relentless."

Tangier awakens these dreams, inoculating her with a delicious poison. She greedily drinks in its air, its whiteness, its freestone minarets and its canopies. When she meets Driss, the relationship changes Badra's life, but it is far from perfect. Driss refuses to marry her, and because they are unmarried, their affair remains hidden from the world.

Driss satisfies her sexually and she loves him passionately, however, he is not faithful to her. They engage in rapacious threesomes and Driss has other women and occasionally also has men. But Badra remains Driss's "almond," his butterfly. Every particle of her skin a love nest and a source of ecstasy for him. When she's with him she "loses the virginity of her heart."

Nedjma portrays a culture that is obsessed with love and with sex, where it doesn't matter what you do, as long as you are discreet. Yet it remains a severely misogynistic society where the men don't really know how to love or how to give pleasure to women. Although men and women connect in marriage and procreation, most women consider sex to be a burden because few men know the workings of women's bodies.

With Driss every word and every look sweeps away another fear, another bit of ignorance, another shred of false modesty. He does love Badra in his own way: casual, detached, desperate beneath his laughter, his impeccable elegance, and his infinite overwhelming culture, yet when the crunch comes he can't commit to her. He's enlightened sexually, but not socially.

The Almond is evocative, sensual, and shocking; it's a story of soul and flesh giving women back the power of speech confiscated by their fathers, brothers and their husbands. It's also a story of feminine pleasure, a pleasure that is everywhere, frozen with desire, feverish and demanding. Mike Leonard June 05

If you come into this book looking for something that is pure erotica, then you will likely be somewhat disappointed. If, on the other hand, you come into this book looking for a peek into what is often a culture shrouded in mystery, then you will likely come away satisfied.

Nedjma is a pseudonym of a Muslim woman writer still living in a Muslim world and The Almond purports to be a novel based on her own sexual experiences. Badra, the narrator of this book, has run away from her horrible husband. She flees to Tangiers where she lives with her aunt until she meets Driss, the man who will lead her to her "sexual awakening." She stays with Driss for a long time hoping for more from him but, in the end, is left with nothing but money and unhappiness which she then proceeds to spread around.

The book is sometimes crude but cleverly written, alternating between her experiences growing up in a small town and her experiences in the big city. It is at times erotic, at times surprising and often enlightening of experiences that most Americans will never understand. However, it is also a novel of sadness and anger. In fact, the sadness and anger color the book so much, particularly the last half, that someone looking for a purely erotic experience had better go elsewhere. The story of Badra and her neighbor, Wafa, near the end of the book is so horrible it is difficult to keep reading.

On the other hand, if you're looking for something more than erotica, this book offers enough insights to make it worth reading. It is difficult to believe that the experiences of the "awakened" Badra are typical of the Muslim woman but her childhood experiences are likely widely shared. This makes this book valuable if you can get through the deep unhappiness that the story generates..

It is hard to evaluate this book if you have not been exposed to muslim culture before. I was raised in a mostly muslim country who represses girls and favors boys with the effect of raising weak men who think that power and virility comes from putting down women, be they sisters, wives or daughters. I left the country for college because I did not want to live my life like that and did not want to find myself in a marriage like the main character of this book. Belive it or not, these things do happen to this day among muslim families that live in very civilized countries in Western Europe. Someone had commented that the main character is a sick puppy before she went to the big city given her childhood experiences. I got news for you. In a repressed culture those things really do happen. Older men pray on little girls and or teenage boys pray on teenage girls and it all is kept quiet because if the girl speaks, it must have been her fault, the woman is the temptress and she is ostracized. It is sad but true.

I saw myself and my friends in many of these stories and it was hard for me to read. I initially picked up this book as an easy erotica read but it is so much deeper and so much sadder. I am glad I did because it is a very well written book. It is about time that topics like these come out in the open for people to know and discuss. And yes, maybe the book would not have had the success it has if it were not written by a muslim woman. Precisely becasue it is written by one that the story is so much deeper and true because it is not work of just fiction but it is a collection of experiences shared by many women on that side of the world.

West or East, Christian or Muslim, repressed or not, sex is something we all have in common. It would be best if we all were just more open about sex. This book is a breakthrough, because it is a Muslim woman opening up about her sex life. It's sexy and interesting. I like books like this and Abby Lee's Diary of a Sex Fiend: Girl with a One Track Mind. Anytime I can read about what really goes on in a woman's head (sex-wise) it's fun and exciting.

THE ALMOND has become a phenomenal bestseller in Europe, in France alone it has sold over 50,000 copies. One German critic has hailed the author who uses the pseudonym (for all the obvious reasons) of "Nedjma" as a 'literary guerrilla fighter.' Such was the mania for this book which claims to be a semi-autobiographical account of a young Moroccan woman who leaves behind a loveless arranged marriage for her Aunt Selma's house in Tangiers, where she meets a Europeanized doctor and becomes his lover.

I agree with a previous reviewer, Shapour, when he states that this book would have never received a line of notice if it hadn't been written by an Arab Muslim woman. Despite the critical hoopla from Europe's literary nitwits, this book is simply a catalogue of every kinky sexual activity one could think up. The story alternates, chapter to chapter, from the childhood and youth of her village to her experiences with the sexually psychotic Driss. But, long before Driss ever laid eyes on her, Badra was a sick little pup herself. Her memories of sexual experiences with friends and cousins, dirty old men and her morbid fascination for the village prostitutes are simply --excuse my American queasiness about mixing little kids and sex--disgusting. Regardless of the highly charged subject matter, "Nedjma" has the writing style that reminds one of a shopping list. A dry narrative of the far-fetched sexual encounters of dull people. The sexual awakening of a Muslim woman? Good for her! The rest of us though are falling asleep from her monotonous ramblings about sex and love and more sex. Some, I'm sure, are also throwing up after having read about Driss' grandmother and her young servant girl having sex while he watched. Nedjma/Badra (or whatever your name is) you need to go back to bed. And that means back to sleep, so try keeping your hands to yourself - and off yourself.

This book has received little attention here in the United States. If you haven't read this piece of psycho-porn yet, count yourself lucky and spend your time with something better worth your time. THE ALMOND is a bomb (I still love the book's cover however).

I read this book looking for an intelligent take on the innate sexuality of the Muslim woman. But I found it to be shallow and crude at best. This book has been touted as an example of sexual awakening but the character of Driss, who supposedly liberates this character of her inhibitions, is hardly a liberator but rather another blatant stereotype of a subjugating male. The main character's pathetic attempts to mold herself into a creature worthy of this perverse male's fantasies is pitiful at best and downright offensive at worst. The writing was poor, the storyline flimsy. If anything the "story" was little more than a few words strung together to connect one sexual encounter with another. There is a lot of beautiful sexuality in the Arab and Muslim culture but this book made it tawdry. To think that people will read this book and consider this to be a window into the culture is disturbing. This book isn't even erotic and I would dispose of it in the appropriate receptacle fitting such trash. Or better yet, don't even waste your money.

I picked up this book because I wanted to be open-minded and read something different. I don't usually read erotica, but I bought into all the hype around this book. The novel revolves around Badra, a young Muslim woman who comes to Tangiers to escape a failed marriage and moves in with her progressive aunt. She falls in love with playboy doctor Driss who opens her to a world of all types of sexualities. After reading it my mind didn't change about sexually graphic writing, as I seem to be more conservative than I thought I was. However, I found the semi-autobiographical book to be an eye opener into the lives of Muslims, which is contrary to Western media images. Islam has long history for erotica, such as Arabian Nights, which has suppressed today by many radical Islamic clerics. Nonetheless I recommend the book for the adventurous and less conservative.

Difficult to put into words just how beautiful a book this is. Crude and honest, but at the same time sexy (duh), sensual, really beautifully written. Interesting look into the controversial world of muslim women, a propos for our time. Yet also a must-read for any woman. You'll read it in a few hours, won't be able to close the cover.

Read this book with an open mind. The Almond takes you into a world seldom revealed. I enjoyed this book tremendously and could not put it down.

Recently, "Nedjma," author of The Almond stated that her novel is semi-autobiographical, about 40% and the remainder a true picture of a few Muslim women in her community.
To some extent, I can accept The Almond as a portrait of life in a repressive- even by near-eastern standards-rural Imchouk. However, it is far more than a tawdry tale of the underground social life of Tangiers's elite. I read The Almond as a two-prong story. The first story, initially narrated by a near 50-year "Badra," whom gleefully proclaims she's in possession of the Near East's most beautiful fruit as she narrates the story of her life until this point.

And, the second, subtler, but no less provocative, is the story of the environment. Indeed, this form of repression is systematic and quiet, constantly regenerating and regurgitating its hapless victims. In this world, the old axiom "actions speak louder than words" regularly repeats itself and takes on an insidious metamorphosis, as actions not only speak louder than words, but speaks in place of words and free-thought. The only crime these women commit is one of pure silence.


This, of course, begs the questions, who are these role models for Badra? What does Badra see in the women of Imchouk? Imchouk is home to the forbidden world of silent women. Silent, unfulfilled women whose aborted dreams gives way to the exciting world of dishwashing and laundry. Daily trips to the market, where she engages in the ever-intriguing art of recipe-swapping. From there, it's back to preparing the three meals for the family and the expected, special meal for the husband followed by after-meal "consumption."


When we meet young Badra, she and her friends are at that delicate place in their lives where the natural physiological course is ushering them into young adulthood. Because of the environment, the obligatory discussions never occur. As we understand (and expect) Badra and her friends go on their own discreet, fact-finding mission. The answers, at least the temporary ones, come in inquisitive moments of self-discovery and communal participation.

Badra also witnesses varying degrees of violence against women. At home, she observes her mother's cruel treatment of a young girl who bears a child for Badra's irresponsible older brother. This young woman, a daughter of a baker, loses her name, her male-child and eventually her life. The boy would grow up only to be identified as the son of Badra's brother.

Within a short time, she too becomes the victim as she's ceremoniously raped on her wedding day. She was betrothed to a wealthy and impotent bigamist. Being an expert on human reproduction, this owner of two other unhealthy wives, suspects that the newly fertile Badra would be in optimum condition to bear him a son he so richly deserves. There only one problem, Romeo is unable to consummate the relationship and appeals to his mother, no less, for help. She, in turn, enlists the services of Badra's mother and sister in the de-flowering process.



Badra leaves her husband, home and the life she's always known for Tangiers and her Aunt Selma. Before long, Badra chooses a piano-playing, renaissance man and one of the town's notorious philanderers. In their initial meeting, Badra very explicitly describes her seduction. Initially, a torrent love affair that, I suppose, would make viewers of Desperate Housewives jealous as a spurned lover.

There's a moment in every relationship when one asks, where are we going from here? Badra musters up the courage and in the most memorable of scenes I can remember she gets her answer. And, it would inform how she'd relate to people from then on.

My opinion has never wavered in my respect and admiration for this story or independent thinkers, in general. But I must bring to light something very important to bear in mind when reading The Almond, that certain unsophisticated reader have erroneously mislabel this novel as being pornographic. And that is, at no time does the narrator (Badra/ Nedjma) ever realize that she is not all-knowing. This is extremely important because, neither the character, nor the author can claim nor suggest that the path that the main character follows is the right one. In fact, the winding road which Badra was forced to take was one of sheer desperation and not of forethought or temptation. In other words, she made the best decision she could with the information and the freedom she was afforded.

I hope you, too, enjoy this marvelous book.